Pursuant to the agenda of the Chamber of Deputies, the draft bill no. 6555 on the reform of the procedure of reintegration of employees, introduced on 14 March 2013, will be passed today and published in the official Gazette (“Mémorial”) shortly.

1. Goal of the reform

The last version of the draft bill aims at (i) speeding up reintegration procedures and (ii) enhancing the protection of employees who are deemed unfit to perform their last job. Measures adopted include the extension of the scope of the reintegration obligation, the creation of a specific regime for externally redeployed employees and the increase of sanctions against employers who do not comply with their reintegration obligations.

2. Internal reintegration obligation

Companies employing at least 25 employees at the time the mixed commission is approached are forced to reintegrate these employees internally. The quota for disabled employees is no longer relevant and cannot be an argument to avoid a reintegration. For companies employing less than 25 employees, the labour doctor may, with the consent of the employee and the employer, ask the mixed commission to order an internal reintegration, if 3 conditions are met: (i) the employee is deemed unfit to perform his last job, (ii) holds a risk position and (iii) has at least 10 years of seniority.

3. Protection against dismissal

The 12 months’ protection period regarding the termination of the employment contracts of reintegrated employees remains unchanged.

4. Entry into force

Most of the new rules only apply to future reintegrations.

5. Conference

We are currently preparing a conference in collaboration with Mr Joseph Faber, Conseiller de direction 1ère classe of the Labour Ministry (end of September / beginning of October 2015). An invitation will be sent out shortly.